Software Localization is not a new thing, but how it is done has evolved over the years. Gone are the days when software licenses were a one-off purchase, which required an upgrade package to be purchased and deployed each time a major release dropped. Today around 70% of business software is based on Software as a Service (SaaS) licensing and delivery. This figure is forecasted to rise to 85% by 2025.
These changes in software delivery mean that a basic requirement of SaaS companies is to deliver updates and bug fixes simultaneously to clients. For companies with clients around the world, this can entail updating multiple localized versions of your software or app. While a seemingly underrated task, hiccups could cause a ripple of delays.
Thankfully, this is where software localization services come into play.
Read this blog to find out how Milengo and Lokalisecreated a seamless budget-friendly localization strategy to help Orbus fuel great customer experiences with the best software translation possible.
About Orbus
Orbus Software is a leading enterprise software vendor. Founded in 2004, the company serves large government organizations and blue-chip enterprises across many industry verticals such as IKEA, Dell, AstraZeneca, Fujitsu, and AXA.
Driven by the increasing level of cloud adoption among global businesses, Orbus saw a record 700% growth for its iServer365 platform in 2021. In order to fuel this rapid international expansion, localization took on an increasingly important role.
Software localization for a competitive edge
Software localization is the process of adapting software to the linguistic, cultural, and technical requirements of a target market. It doesn’t only involve translations but also includes elements such as localizing currency symbols, date and time formats, and even text direction.
Localization allows SaaS companies to better reach global audiences and ensures that international users receive the same experience as those in their home country. As a result, this encourages higher user engagement and helps to reduce the support required by allowing end-users to better understand the product.
For Orbus, providing software in local languages is strongly linked to respecting cultural communities. For example, in countries with more than one official language such as Canada, having comprehensive language support (i.e. English and French) gives Orbus a valuable competitive edge.
Challenges with localizing software
“The quality (of translations we were receiving) was so poor we needed a new solution ASAP,” recalls Vladyslav Remnov, Technical Writer, Orbus
Orbus was already working with an external translation vendor but saw disappointing results. They were in dire need of a new translation vendor. So they came to us with a question: How should they deal with the ever-increasing volume of translations that accompanied global expansion?
With limited internal capacities for localization, the company was looking for a solution that fulfilled the following requirements:
Reliable translation quality – Experienced software localization services with a proven pedigree in SaaS software translation.
Automate & modernize – A state-of-the-art software localization tool with out-of-the-box integrations to manage and publish translations more efficiently.
Fast roll-out – Operating in a highly competitive marketplace, rapid localization based on shifting client demands is business-critical for Orbus.
Scale on demand – Localization is a major growth factor for Orbus. They wanted a long-term partner capable of ramping-up localization efforts when needed.
The translation solution
In January 2022, Orbus partnered with Lokalise as their localization software of choice. Orbus needed translations of their web app into French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Furthermore, the scope covered documentation with highly specialized terminology such as user, technical, and administrator guides.
Knowing that Milengo had worked with SaaS market leaders such as Infor and Snowflake, Lokalise recommended us as a language service provider due to our knowledge of enterprise software localization best practices.
With this expert team assembled, Orbus was finally able to deliver localized products faster and more efficiently.
Making first impressions count
Orbus was pleased by the thorough onboarding from the get-go. “Everything was so well coordinated. It was a great experience overall,” Vlad shared.
From the start, Milengo and Lokalise clearly demonstrated their commitment as long-term localization partners by offering Orbus every inch of support they could wish for such as:
Hopping on a meeting if problems arise;
Getting instant training on Lokalise features;
Consulting with translation professionals to navigate the cultural and technical potholes of software localization.
A turnkey solution for software localization
To meet Orbus’ translation requirements and tight deadlines, Milengo embarked on the following steps to ensure high-quality translations were delivered according to schedule:
Documented a quality assurance framework to guarantee reliable, precise, and consistent software translations
Assembled a team of native industry experts (according to ISO Standards) to ensure all translations made sense culturally and technically
Streamlined translation management through Lokalise. Milengo’s translators and project managers are technology agnostic and therefore are well-versed with Lokalise. This meant that translators would receive projects in the platform and then upload finished translations into a single shared workspace, from which Orbus could easily review and deploy.
Results of Milengo’s translation services
Making the best use of resources is a central tenet of Orbus’ enterprise software. Thanks to Milengo and Lokalise, the company was able to accomplish the same efficiency with its localization setup. In fact, translations were sometimes even delivered ahead of time, allowing Orbus to translate their web app into four languages in a few months!
“Our reviewers had to make almost no changes to the translated texts. The content was instantly usable.” Vladyslav Remnov, Technical Writer, Orbus
Furthermore, with the version-control feature of Lokalise, Orbus was able to keep costs down and point developers and translators to the latest content updates. As a result, project members could quickly identify changes and work on translations from end to end.
Moving forward, Orbus is ready to further ramp up localization efforts by setting up a dedicated in-house team for assigning, reviewing, testing, and publishing translations in an even more structured manner.
After 11 years in 9-5 roles, Sophia ditched routine to embrace a digital nomad life. With a diverse background in global communications, a strong cultural curiosity, and a passion for bridging cultures and people, she fosters meaningful connections through effective, creative, and unique cross-cultural communication.
